


Ghosts

by papaversomni



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Established Relationship, F/M, HP: EWE, Late Night Conversations, Non-Canon Relationship, References to Depression
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-10-29
Updated: 2016-10-29
Packaged: 2018-08-27 18:21:53
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 292
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8411752
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/papaversomni/pseuds/papaversomni
Summary: (A collection of non-sequential Dramione one-shots.)
Life was rapidly becoming a stitched-together collection of highs and lows, but all of these moments had something in common: her.





	

 

**Altschmerz**

 

She glanced up at him, voice heavy with sleep. "You know how I hate it when you smoke indoors."

Merlin he wanted to run his fingers through her curls. Get lost in the nape of her neck. Escape in the warm embrace of quilts and silence and her.

He took another drag. Remained where he was. "I cracked a window."

Go to bed, just please go back to bed.

She tilted her head, mouth slightly open, contemplating whether starting a fight was worth it.

Please, don't let it become her battle.

Closing it, she sighed. For once, she filed it away for later, and he was grateful.

When this started, she'd promised to check under the bed. Board up the closets. Buy deadbolts and antidepressants and protect him from the demons that be.

It turned out holy water burned like alcohol on wounds. Bruises continued to splatter across the pale expanse of his limbs like mini, eternally expanding galaxies. Her healing touch only worked for so long before the roads carved by malcontent and malnourishment prevailed.  

He gazed at the empty spot next to her, then her.

_In._

_Out._

The rhythm of her chest did what alcohol and tobacco couldn't. One heart, now two, beating in that reliable pattern stilled him, and he mentally added a promise to his growing list. He would quit in the morning.

He exhaled a stream of smoke and it reminded him of a train in a country that was now far away. It reminded him of a dead boy, and a dead girl, and a time when a schoolyard rivalry was all that kept them awake at night.

He took another drag. He would quit smoking in the morning, but the sun hadn't risen yet.


End file.
